School boards have to update social studies standards — a process that will unfold locally in hundreds of school districts — in time for the 2020-21 school year.

“I envision each board of education will set policy or set a foundation for the curriculum that is age-appropriate, and I don't think that's difficult,” said Assemblywoman Valerie Vainieri Huttle, D-Englewood, one of the primary sponsors of the legislation.

Huttle offered examples of potential lessons: books about children with two moms or dads, or lessons on the achievements of leaders like Barbra “Babs” Siperstein, the transgender activist from Jersey City who died Feb. 3.

“When looking at someone like Babs, or Harvey Milk, or the Stonewall riots, these materials are readily available to implement and to teach students, for students to understand that there are differences,” Huttle said.

New Jersey is the second state, after California, to require that contributions of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals be taught in public schools. The law, which Gov. Phil Murphy signed Jan. 31, does not apply to private schools.

It also requires that schools teach about people with disabilities. Civil rights and advocacy groups hailed the measure, saying it would give students a fuller picture of U.S. history while fostering respect and understanding.

But school boards may face resistance in communities where parents believe LGBT issues are sensitive and should be discussed in the home. Pervasive anti-gay sentiment could also cast a shadow over the process — yet that kind of sentiment is precisely why this kind of education is needed, advocates say.

“We know it’s beneficial to all students,” said Becca Mui, education manager for GLSEN, formerly known as the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network. “It exposes them to a more inclusive and accurate account of history, helps them have a better understanding of LGBT people and their historic contributions, and can help promote acceptance and diversity.”

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Teaching LGBT history

Under the law, each school board is expected to adopt policies and curriculum changes aligned with the state’s learning standards. The New Jersey Department of Education is figuring out next steps for the new law, a spokesman said, and is expected to develop guidance for school districts, with input from different groups, that reflect the new requirements.

The law also calls for districts, when they buy new books and instructional materials, to purchase ones that accurately portray diversity and the contributions of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.

GLSEN, which has three chapters in New Jersey, is one of a number of groups that offer instructional resources and professional training for educators about teaching LGBT history. Examples of classroom lessons are available online, including:

A lesson about the events and people involved in the Stonewall riots in New York City 50 years ago — a historic event that sparked the modern gay rights movement.

An activity in which students are each given a history card with an important event from LGBT history and are asked as a group to place the cardsin chronological order and then write newspaper articles about them.

A classroom discussion about Alan Turing, a British mathematician often referred to as the father of the modern-day computer. He was openly gay and in the early 1950s was arrested and punished for his sexual orientation.

LGBT topics shouldn’t be confined to a single lesson, Mui said.

“It’s important to follow up the stand-alone lesson with understanding and visibility of LGBT people and their contributions throughout the year,” she said.

A model in California

The law, which went into effect in 2012, requires public schools to adopt history and social studies curriculum that represents individuals who are LGBT and those who have disabilities. Four years later, the state adopted more specific standards that spell out what students should learn by grade level, which serve as guidelines for schools.

It’s up to each California school district to decide how high schools will teach the standards. Rick Oculto, education manager of the advocacy group Our Family Coalition, advises schools to avoid “tokenized history” that focuses on a major leader or event in isolation.

Rather, the goal is to put lessons into context of what’s going on in the rest of the world at a given time, said Oculto, whose organization works with schools to develop inclusive courses.

Dominic Le Fort, executive director of Queer Education, a nonprofit that helps families and schools meet the objectives of the law in California, said many schools haven’t adopted new lessons.

“Adoption has just been very slow,” he said.

Some districts faced delays because they lack updated textbooks, or because of pressure from parenting groups. In some cases, faculty members were reluctant to teach the topic “either because they don’t know enough or because they have a moral issue with it,” Le Fort said.

While the law in New Jersey is aimed at middle and high schools, in California it starts in second grade, when students are expected to learn about family diversity, including mixed race, disabled or same-sex parents.

'Timing is everything'

In New Jersey, it isn’t the first time the state has called for a more inclusive curriculum. In 2002, New Jersey’s Amistad Law required schools to incorporate African-American history into their social studies curriculum.

But members of the Amistad Commission — established to develop lessons and ensure they were taught — have raised concerns that some schools have neglected the law or restricted lessons to Black History Month.

New Jersey’s LGBT law does not specify how the state will monitor compliance by school districts.

Overall, the law has provoked strong reactions from supporters, who say it’s about respecting rights and teaching complete history, but also from opponents, who think sexual orientation should not be mentioned in school.

Conservative organizations have opposed proposals to teach gay and transgender history, saying such requirements take away power from parents and may encourage kids to question their sexuality.

Len Deo, president of the New Jersey Family Policy Council, opposed the bill because he believes it infringes on parents’ rights.

“We believe it further erodes the right of parents to discuss this sensitive issue with their children, if in fact schools are going to be promoting and making the claim that this particular person was an LGBTQ member,” he said.

Huttle said that although there may be “growing pains,” New Jersey is doing the right thing.

“There’s never 100 percent agreement on a law, but we have come such a long way in the struggle for equal rights of LGBTQ and disabled, and I think timing is everything,” she said. “Once it’s implemented and we work it out and get positive feedback, I think New Jersey will be a fairer and more inclusive state for it.”

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